This week on the Rounds Table Kieran Quinn and Katie Whiskar cover two important studies: low fat versus low carb diets for weight loss and the role of opioids vs non-opioids in the management of chronic pain.

Diet modification is key to weight loss. Yet, no one dietary strategy is consistently superior to others for the general population. Katie takes listeners through the DIETFITS randomized controlled trial which aimed to determine the effect of a healthy low fat diet versus a healthy low carbohydrate diet on weight change and if genotype pattern or insulin secretion are related to the dietary effects of weight loss.

Next, Kieran takes listeners through the SPACE trial which examined the effect of opioid versus non-opioid medications for pain related function in patients with chronic pain. Opioids have the potential to cause significant harm, and current guidelines discourage prescribing them. But if not opioids, then what? This trial compared opioid versus non-opioid medications over 12 months on pain-related function, pain intensity, and adverse effects.

Finally, the Good Stuff segment. Katie shares an editorial piece on lowering p-value thresholds. Kieran shares an article on the Right to Try bill, which would allow terminally ill patients access to experimental drugs that do not yet have approval of the FDA.

This document is provided under the terms of a CreativeCommons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike license. The terms of the license are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/. Attributions are to be made to HealthyDebate.ca, a project under the direction of Dr. Andreas Laupacis, at the Keenan Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital.